Well apparatus



K. J. OWEN WELL APPARATUS July 10, 1956 Filed March 7 1951 Ken/7e? d. Owe/7 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,754,160 WELL APPARATUS Kenneth J. Owen, Houston, Tex. Application March 7, 1951, Serial No. 114,302 2 c a m (Ct sue-4) pumping a well, it is conventional to insert a conduit comprising the flow string into the bore hole of a Well and to reciprocate therein a sucker rod to which is attached at its lower end a puming mechanism in such a manner that the reciprocation of the sucker rod causes the oil to flow upwardly through the flow string. When the axis of-the flow string is straight along its entire length or when a compressive force is not exerted on the sucker rod sufficient to cause it to bendinside the flow string, the sucker rod may not rub against the sides of the'iiow string. However, in manywells, the-bore hole is not sufliciently straight that the flow string can be inserted without assuming a curved or bent configuration along at leasta portion of its length. In such "instances, the sucker rod inserted in the flow string must assume a similar configuration and in so doing, will touch the sides of the flowstring along the curved or bent portions thereof. Also, it often happens that the sucker rodhas sulficient compressive force exerted at its upper end by its actuating mechanism to cause it to bend and touch' the sides of thefiowstring. As a result, the sucker rod upon beingreciprocated in the flow string will rub thereagainst a-ndifgsuch rubbing is continued, it will eventually cause a wearing away of the WallS of the flow string thereby causing thin spots in the walls. In some cases, the rubbingaction r'nay even cause the flow string to spring a leak-or to part at the point where the rubbing haseccurred. In'addition to a rubbing action, a sucker rod reciprocating in a flow string tends to slap against the inner-walls of; the flow string due tosuchfactors as crooked-ness of the flow string, a compressive force applied tothe rods upper end or even to the weight of the sucker rod itselfcausing bending thereof andre'sultant slapping during thedownstroke. Such slapping action has been found to cause fatigue in both the flow string and the sucker rod due to crystallization ofthe-metalin the region of the. slapping contact. Thisfatigue not infrequently causes failure of the flow string and sucker rods. It .would'be. highly desirabletopossess ameansforpreventing sucker rods and the like from rubbing against an exteriorly situated conduit and for also preventing 'the slapping action of therods from causing-damage to them.-

selves 1 and to the. flow. string.

ccordingly, it is an object of this. invention to provide an apparatus;adaptedtqbeused inv a..well wherein a rod the; ike is rec p oca ec1 nsi e a conduit.- without rubbing er ag g igal dW Qlll ;-fi lSin .sl bstantialrdamag s self the onduit b larrins ha eaaainst; despite cmp se neg Qtth s du taml de p nwcn ency' 9f th IQ 1 2 4 due-to its ait teas-externa I sssxeiarss-aprfisd t t- Another object of this invention is to provide a guide means'ad'aptedto be inserted in a length of rod, conduit and the like-to substantialy prevent said rod from: rubbing or slapping against a surrounding conduit without substantially interferingwith the reciprocating action of said rod.

Still another object of this invention is to provide such a guide which is cheap and easy to manufacture and whi'clrhas a readily replaceable means adapted to rub against the outer conduit without causing any substantial war of saidconduit and to absorb the impact of any slapping action ofsaid rod against said conduit.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a guide for a reciprocative means such as a rod, conduit and the like wherein a plurality of elongated resilient means ice situated about acentral shaft forming a portion of the length of said reciprocative means are provided to maintain said reciprocative means within an outer conduit without permitting anysubstantial contact of the reciprocative means with'the conduit and to absorb the impact 'of'anyslapping action of the reciprocative means against the. conduit.

Sjill yet another object of this invention is to provide a suckerrod guide adapted to be inserted as a part of the length of said rod wherein there is provided resilient helicallya-rranged means for spacing said rod from an outer conduit, said means being so arranged and constructed that the entire length of said resilient means is presented for contact with said outer conduit.

Even yetanother object of this invention is to provide a sucker rod guide wherein there is provided a central shaft adapted to form a portion of the length of said rod and which has a plurality of grooves, extending longitudinally therein adapted to receive a resilient means for positioning said rod in an Outer conduit toprevent rubbing and slapping together of the same.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the written specification, the appended claims and the attached drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 represents an illustrative embodiment of the apparatus of this inventionparticularly adapted. to be em ployed'in pumping a Well;

Fig. 2 represents a preferred embodiment of the guide of this invention;

Fig. 3 represents a cross-sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 represents a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig.2.

Inthe drawings-like characters of reference represent corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a bore hole 10 of a well having received therein a flow string or conduit 11 which can be comprised of a plurality of joints of conduit made up in the conventional manner. A'reciprocative means such as sucker rod 12 is situated inside of flow string 11 and-is adapted to reciprocate therein in order tooperate thepumping mechanism (not shown) situated at the lower end of flow string 11 beneath the upper level of the producing horizon. This pumping-mechanism can. comprise and of the well known plungerwor other type pumps adapted to lift a fluid through flow string 11 upon reciprocation.

The guide; means for sucker rod 12 are generally designated by thenumeral 13 and are situated in the length of sucker rod 12 as a portion thereof. The spacing between succeeding guide means should be such as to prevent sucker rod 12 from rubbing or slapping against flow stringl'l.

Thegu ide= means of this invention comprises an elongatedrneanshaving; a plurality of grooves therein adapted to regeiyea; resilient means, theresilient means extending laterally beyond the periphery of the elongated means to bear against the inner wall of a surrounding conduit and thereby prevent a reciprocative means, such as a rod, conduit and the like, connected to the guide means In a preferred embodiment, the receiving groove is so shaped and the resilient means is also so shaped that the groove is adapted to claspthe resilient means therein and prevent its disengagement therefrom. In a still more preferred embodiment, the resilient means and the grooves for receiving the same are arranged in a helical fashion about the elongated means. By helical fashion" is meant that the groove and the resilient means received therein "curves around, or partially around, the longitudinal axis of the elongated means but not necessarily in the form of a true geometrical helix. The helically arranged resilient. means should extend at a slight pitch which will not impede fluid flow past the guide. Preferably each vane or resilient element extends about substantially one-half of a circle.

In its most preferred form, the guide means of this invention can be comprised of a central shaft 14, shown in cross-section in Fig. 4, having at least one longitudinally extending groove therein. Such groove can be formed by a substantially parallel pair of ribs 15. Ribs preferably extend in a lateral direction from shaft 14 a distance sufiicient to provide a groove therebetween of sufficient depth to receive a resilient means, such as rubber vane 16, therein. In a preferred embodiment, the inner walls of ribs 15 converge in an outwardly direction from the shaft 14 so that the groove formed is wider at its inner side than at its outer face. Resilient vane 16 is formed so that its sides 17, which bear against the inner walls of ribs 15, converge in an outwardly direction from the shaft 14 in a manner similar to the convergence of the inner walls of ribs 15. Vane 16 is also preferably constructed with its width greater than that of its receiving groove so that it must be compressed somewhat when positioned therein. When so constructed, vane 16 can be received and clasped by the converging walls of adjoining ribs 15 to prevent the vane from being displaced from the groove formed by the ribs 15.

Resilient vane 16 is preferably made from a synthetic rubber resistant to the action of petroleum oils, salt water and other fluids likely to be encountered in the flow string 1.1. It can be of a suitable resilient plastic material or the like which can be rubbed against a metallic surface, i. e. the inner surface of flow string 11, without causing any substantial wear of such surface. Thus, any wear which may occur is on the easily and cheaply replaceable vane and not on the .trow string. The material employed to construct the vane is of a resilient character so that when the sucker rod tends to slap against the flow string, such material will absorb the force of the impact and prevent metal-to-metal contact between the sucker rod and the flow string.

The number of resilient vanes employed is preferably three in order to provide an evenly disposed bearing surface around the sucker rod. However, a larger or smaller number can be employed, if desired.

A means is provided for preventing longitudinal movement of vane 16 in the groove formed by ribs 15. Such means can comprise caps 18 situated at each end of the groove and extending across the end thereof to abut against the end of the vane 16 and thereby maintain it in its groove when the sucker rod is reciprocated in the flow string.

Shaft 14 is extended at each of its ends to form an extension which. is preferably square in cross-section thereby providing a wrench-hold for making up the guide with the lengths of sucker rod. One end of shaft 14 can terminate in an externally threaded pin 20 adapted to be received in a socket 21 attached to the end of sucker rod 12. The other end of shaft 1 can terminate in an internally threaded socket 22, which is adapted to receive a pin 23 attached to the other end of sucker rod 12.

In operation, the guide means shown in Fig. 2 is inserted at desired intervals along the length of sucker rod 12. The distance between succeeding guides should be sufficiently short so that sucker rod 12 will be maintained out of rubbing contact with flow string 11 and also so that sucker rod 12 will not slap against the flow string. After the sucker rod string has been made up in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, it can be reciprocated in flow string 11 and any bending of the sucker rod or any crookedness of the flow string which, in the absence of the guide means, would result in the sucker rod rubbing against the flow string will be prevented by the guide means which themselves will rub along the external surface of their resilient means against the flow string. Such rubbing will not cause substantial wear of the flow string due to the resiliency of the vanes 16, the wear being taken by the vane instead of by the flow string. Further, should reciprocation of the sucker rod string tend to cause the sucker rod to slap against the walls of the flow string, the impact of such slapping action will be absorbed by the resilient means of the guide means thereby preventing metal-to-metal contact between the sucker rod and the flow string with its resultant sharper blows.

Should the resilient vanes become worn after extended periods of pumping by rabbing or slapping against the flow string, they can be easily and simply replaced by merely pulling the old vanes from their grooves between adjoining ribs 15 and then forcing new vanes into the grooves. This operation can be simply done by starting one end of the vane into the groove and then pressing remaining length of the vane into the groove.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the guide means of this invention is simple in construction and yet is able to perform its intended function. Also, the guide means of this invention is easy and cheap to manufacture since there are no moving parts and the various elements or portions thereof need not be machined to close tolerances. Thus, the groove formed between the inner walls of ribs 15 need not be machined to a close tolerance inasmuch as any minor variation in width will not prevent maintaining vane 16 therein inasmuch as such vane is resilient in character, and such resiliency can compensate for any variation in width of the groove provided that the groove is not so wide that vane 16 will be no longer compressed when inserted therein.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed 1. A guide for the sucker rod of a sub-surface fluid pump of the type which is actuated by a sucker rod reciprocating in a string of production tubing, comprising, an elongate one-piece metal body having a threaded pin at one end and a threaded socket at the other end to be threaded to the pin and socket of adjacent sections of sucker rod whereby the guide is an integral part of the sucker rod and reciprocates therewith, a plurality of Iongitudinally extending grooves in said body having outwardly converging side walls, said grooves equally spaced about the body and extending in a helical fashion about the body at a very slight pitch which will not substantially impede fluid flow past the guide, an elongate vane of resilient material received in each of said grooves, said vane being wider than the groove so that it is compressed when in position in the groove, and cap means at both ends of the grooves providing abutments at the ends of the grooves to prevent longitudinal movement of the vanes in the grooves.

2. The guide of claim 1 wherein there are three vanes of resilient material in grooves in said body, and the pitch of the helix is such that each vane extends about substantially one-half of a circle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wilson Nov. 2, 1926 Montgomery Apr. 21, 1931 Bostic Dec. 20, 1932 McLaine Jan. 17, 1933 Kennedye May 22, 1934 Davis Dec. 3, 1935 Bettis July 25, 1939 

